Redeeming a Dark Angel
by Saravelda
Summary: When Kuja recieves a chance at redemption, he needs to achieve Zidane's forgiveness. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Will the once 'Angel of Death's' only chance at finding his brother be an alliance with the heartless?Kingdom HeartsFF9 crossoverRati
1. The Awakening

First of all, I have to thank Kuja, a friend from for the whole idea for this fic.

( I wish i knew your name so I could feel like i was actually giving you better credit)

He mentioned a theory one day, and I liked so much i decided it would make a really

cool fanfiction story.

DISCLAIMER: I dont own Kingdom Hearts, the characters, or any of that...

that all belongs to Disney and Square.

**Chapter One: The Awakening**

"Don't you die on me, Kuja!" were the last words from the living realm to cross his ears before

he slipped into the dark chasm of death. He had at one time called himself the angel of death, and

believed that only in death could bring the end of the suffering of living. He had come to find that for

him, death would be the beginning of a greater suffering and unending torture. Voices from the dark

abyss called out his name, taunted him, named him a traitor to his blood, to his brother. He had

betrayed Zidane in life, and it would haunt him forever in the nightmare of death. His limbs were weak

from clawing at invisible walls that existed at one moment, but often not at the next. He cried aloud in

his unweilding suffering, willed himself to believe this was all just a dream. Holding on to this little

glimmer of what could have been either hope or insanity, Kuja summoned his little strengthed and

tried to force himself to awaken from his eternal nightmare...

...and he did.

He awoke in another time and darkness, but there was a calmer, more serene and more

mysterious feel to this one. Beautiful color-stained lights glowed underneith his fatigued feet,

enveloping him in their vibrance, calming his heavy breathing like a mother's touch to her child

just woken from terrible dreams. "What is this place...am I..."

_Yes...you are alive. Welcome to your awakening. _

"Awakening? How can this be? How am i" He could barely stammer out the

word "...alive?"

_You have been given a second chance, to gain your redemption..._

Kuja lifted his head up toward the disembodied voice that hung above him in an utter state of not

much more that mere confustion. "Redemption?" Was all he could choke out.

_Your betrayal has doomed you to suffering. Find your brother...gain his forgiveness...and it will_

_all end... Your journey will not be an easy one for Gaia itself was destroyed two years ago, in the fifth _

_her majesty Queen Garnet's reign. I see the question in your eyes...indeed...you have been dead for_

_five years and no more. _

Kuja paniced in disbeleif. "Destroyed?! By who? It could not have been Garland. I watched him

die with my own eyes!

_The soulless shadows...no more questions, your time here draws to a close...soon you will wake _

_completely. _

A shaft of pure, untainted light, blinding to his unadjusted eyes, poured from above.

_You have not yet fully recovered your strength, fighting would not be wise...this is where she will_

_be of aid. _

A cloak, sleek and ebony in color appeared from the flow of light. Kuja pulled on the coat of a

fabric he could not name and passed his pale fingers over the silver chains that hung about his

neck and over his shoulders. Nervous about what was to come, he pulled the large hood up over

his long platinum hair, letting its shadow fall over part of his face. "I'm ready..."

_Farewell...Keep to the light, Kuja. It is difficult to find what you seek in the darkness..._

The light engulfed the trembling figure as fire does smoldering ash...

...and he was gone...

So? what do you think? The chapters will get longer, i promise. Leave me a review? Please?


	2. Enter Rykashi

Note to all my friends on kh2 .net: I actually came up with this character (Rykashi) before i started using her name as my username...so Rykashi isn't modeled after me in any way.

Chapter Two: Enter Rykashi

When he awoke and the massive headache subsided, Kuja peered into the world around him. The raindrowps slid from his cloak but trickled and fell upon to skin left uncovered on his face. With each tiny clink of water apon the chain hanging from his neck he became more aware of this new place the had landed in. His pale hands rested in cool crystal collections or rainwater that gave a clear view of the red-brown stone underneith it. Street lamps gave off a vibrant glow slicing through the navy blue of the night sky. Window lights and illuminated signs accentuated the brilliance.

Every muscle in his body protested against him as he lifted himself off the cold brick street. Weak as he was, he could still walk at a slow pace. The downpour was beginning to chill him, and his new life would be of no use to him is he allowed himself to fall so ill he would not be abel to find Zidane. His brother, Zidane, who he must find to end his suffering. He deducted for himself from the signs he passed as he limped through the street, that this new world must be called Traverse Town...or something of the like. Finally, after trudging through standing water for a substantial length of time, Kuja found the specific sign he was looking for. "Inn" his voice was cracked and horse. It hadn't occured to him that he truly had no idea how long he had been lying there unconcious. The nearby stairway looked so slick it glistened the reflection of the inn sign's light, and as he looked harder, something else...a shadow....

He detected another sound besides the rain's soft melodic patter...footsteps? If they were, they were quiet ones. A feeling overwhelmed him...he was definately not alone. Two clangs of metal perked his ears in just enough time for him to turn and dodge two blows aimed at his head. An enigma, clad in a royal blue cloak not unlike his own held two glistening weapons, each shaped as a key of some sort.

'Keyblades...' he thought to himself.

Kuja had heard stories of the key-weilders, but never had he ever dreamed they actually existed. The first shone so bright it must have been forged of light itself, while the other threatened to pull him into its impending black. The mysterious figure swung at him again. Kuja dodged it again, unfortunately falling onto the slick, unforgiving stone. He tried to stumble to his feet, knowing now that the only chance he had of keeping his life was to run. 'I'm not going to let it end this way. I won't let it take me again...' a searing pain in his side brought all thought and conciousness to an abrupt halt.

She should have turned her back and walked away, but her curiousity had other plans for her destiny. He was still breathing, this she could tell. Good, she hadn't killed him, she had not meant to really hurt him anyway. There had been rumors of a heartless shell, wearing a similar black cloak, so she attacked without question. It wasn't untill he had fallen that she noticed he was unarmed. Down beside him, one knee soaking in the puddle he lay in, she pulled he hood partially off of his face, letting his long hair spill. 'Silver hair...is it possible? Could it be you?....No...it's not possible...he killed you!'

"Finish Him." The smooth, deep voice of her traveling companion slid through her ears. 'I cant' she wanted to tell him, but she knew she couldn't say that.

"I dont kill for pleasure" was her only monotone response.

"Pleasure? No...don't you remember? He was the one who killed your brother!"

"No...It's not him" she replied again flatly. 'He is my brother' her mind said to her. Silence hung in the air for a brief moment untill he companion's voice tore it down like a curtian.

"Are you sure?" She nodded, and to his surprise he chuckled deeply at her.

"You are going soft, Rykashi...I have no need for you, if this is the case. I shall be leaving you now" And with that he was gone.

"Fine with me, Sephiroth...I will deal with darkness no longer..."

Putting her Keyblades away, she lifted the unconcious young man and carried him to the inn, where, out of respect for the wounded, she slept on the floor for the night.


	3. Alliance

Hey guys, sorry about the LONG delay between chapters. I've not been doing so well in my classes, but now i'm doing better and I can actually start transferring what's in my notebook to the computer. YAY!

Chapter Three: Alliance

He finally awoke with the sun's rising. Kuja was weary of, but not frightened by the unfamilliar surroundings. From the welcoming decor, he could only guess that he was somehow in a room of the inn he had tried to make it to before he was attacked. Kuja moved to sit up, but as he did the terrible pain in his side screeched at him, causing him to collapse against the pillow. 'At least pillows are better than concrete' he thought as he rubbed his aching head.

"Don't try so hard...you've been badly injured." He heard a voice, distinctly female, say to him from the chair in the shadowy corner of the room. There he saw a figure in a navy blue cloak, one he recognized with anger and fear at once. "So, it was you..." he tried to sit up, fueled by his anger, but only recieved the same results as before. It left him gasping and groaning in pain. "I told you, stop" she said forcefully. Then, following a long sigh, she said "Yes, it was me. You'll someday have to forgive me. I thought you were...someone else." Kuja had not yet let go of his anger. "Someone else? Who did you think I was exactly?"

"I thought you might be my brother's murderer. In that black cloak, you looked as much"

'Heh, this cloak will keep you safe, huh?' he thought, recalling the awakening guardian's words. After a moment's pause, he spoke up with a reply to her. "Well, the fact that you don't show your face does not exactly inspire trust in me either!"

"Very true...I see your point. Very well." A hand, almost Kuja's equal in color reached for the hood draping over her elusive face, drawing it back. Deep violet eyes peered back at him as he first looked upon the face of this girl who had both attacked him and rescued him at the same time. She was clad in black, royal blue, and silver, as to aid her in moving undetected at night. However, he could understand the need for the dark cloak, as her pale skin would easily betray her in night's depths in an instant. Her unique silver hair had a blue hint and shimmer to it, and was pulled back to avoid interfereing in combat. Though he couldn't see most of it, Kuja supposed it to be quite long.

"I am called Rykashi" she said quietly, snapping Kuja from his enchanted trance. "And your name?"

"Kuja"

He saw her violet eyes turn downwards in sadness for a brief moment. "So you are not him..."

"Who?"

"My brother"

For a moment, Kuja sympathized with her. After all, there was no certianty of finding Zindane at all, and there was a likely chance that he would fail. "What was his name?" He asked after a while. She paused for a moment, half-shocked at the audacity of this stranger for asking such a question, and at the same time half slashed by memories.

"That...is not important, you are not him, and that is that." She sighed, but her indifferent attitude could not shroud the shouts of her blazing but sorrowful eyes. Rykashi turned her head to face him. "Now that I have caused you enough trouble and pain, I will be on my way."

Kuja wanted to panic. He knew from the crimson stained bandage covering his wound, which he figured she had dressed while he was unconcious, that he was not yet strong enought to fend for himself. What woud happen if these 'souless shadows attacked him? He doubted that they would show him the mercy Rykashi had....

"Wait!"

Rykashi stopped in the doorframe, puzzled, as Kuja tried to push himself to stand. It took no words, simply the thud of Kuja falling to the floor to convey his message, but at a great cost to him. The pain in his side multiplied as he felt the almost clotted wound tear from itself and the bandage tied to it, which began to turn a deeper scarlet as this blood-dam broke. He felt his warm lifestream flowing out of him at an alarming rate from his belly button all the way to his spine. If it kept going much longer and he would likely bleed to death. He looked up from his gash to Rykashi's deep eyes as she kneeled beside him on the floor as she began to pick away the remains of the bandage. A certian determination graced her face as she, to Kuja's immense surprise, thrust her bare hand onto the gaping wound, cosed her eyes, and wispered something barely audible. "Heal."

The excrutiating pain subsided slowly and his irregular breathing eased a great deal. Rykashi's hand still held its place, all coated in his crimson blood, however his pale skin was completely devoid of it at all. When she finally removed her hand, the wound no longer existed, but that itself was not what most astounded him. The gash was gone, yes, but in it's stead there was a pale crimson mark, in the shape of her hand. In disbelief, he traced his brand with the tip of a shaking finger.

"I told you not to move...you will carry that mark for the rest of your life." Her tone was not repremanding, but rather...kind. When he looked up to meet her gaze, he found that her eyes were closed and she had fallen deathly still. Her hand clutched a pendant hanging from her neck, a blood-red crystal flame surrounded by a platinum ring. Kuja gave a puzzled thought as to what it was, and why she was clutching it so...

"You too, are searching for your brother, are you not?" Kuja's head was about to combust. So many secrets in at one time, so many mysteries, and all stemming from this one girl. "How on earth could she possibly know what he was searching for?" His puzzlement was obviously readable across his face. "You will figure it out someday, I can't hide it forever." With that remark she grew sad, as if she had done this all before.

"Rest well, Kuja...Tomorrow we will begin our search."


	4. Of the Blindfolded Man

Hey! I'm sorry I took such a long time between updates. School's been crazy. :kicks herself for taking five honors classes: Maybe I shouldn't do that next year, huh? I think not.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Of the Blindfolded Man**

It was a brisk, cool morning when Kuja again opened his eyes. For the first time since his ressurection, he felt his strength return to him. He pushed off the heavy linens of the inn's bed, and began his search for the other half of his clothes. All he had on at the moment was his skirt-like garment. The glint of the mirror distracted him a bit, and he paused to gawk in dissaproval at said skirt-like garment with disgust. He couldn't believe he had liked it at one point. Reaching for a sheet from the bed, Kuja draped it around his naked shoulders. Before wrapping himelf up completely, he gazed half-concious at the scarlet handprint that now took its place at his side, just above his hip.

He should have felt her come into the room, but he didn't. The next time he looked into the mirror, her reflection was standing in the back of it. "You don't indend to go out half dressed, do you" Her voice contained a hint of humor, but her eyes were full of it. She nodded to the chair in the corner. "Didn't think so. I brought you something decent." "Thanks" he said, grabbing the bundle of clothes from the corner. She saw herself out before he proceeded to change.

Kuja liked the loose fit of the thick black pants. It was infinately more comfortable than what he had worn before. The brown boots also did not have a heel to them, making them a lot easier to walk in than his previous ones. The long vest had one button halfway down his chest, and then it hung about him all the way to it's end around his knees, exposing his arms and torso. He was tieing back his hair when he noticed Rykashi in the mirror again. "You know" He said sarcastically. "You really ought to stop popping in and out like that..." She just grinned at him. "Are you finally ready to go"

Their boots splashed heavily in the puddles left by the rain two nights ago. "You know, Rykashi, this town's a lot nicer when it's daylight." He moved his head around to observe the courtyard in front of the inn. "Especially when I don't have some keyblade weilding assassin after me." He added the last part jokingly. To his surprise, she laughed a bit at the joke. She seemed to be a different person this morning than she had previously. "Well, yes, I suppose that helps a bit." Rykashi laughed even more at that. Her laughter stopped however, at the sight of a shadow rounding the corner. "What was that" Kuja asked, even though he had a large suspicion of what it could be. "I don't know, but let's follow it." She replied. Kuja watched as she closed her eyes and used her will to summon the two keyblades and took off after the shadow. Pulling at his gloves as he ran after her, it dawned on him that he would have to depend on his magic if it came to combat.

The pursuit of the shadow let them into the alleyways and to the secret waterway passage, in just enough time to watch it vanish through. "After you" Kuja said, gesturing towards the way opened by broken bars. She obviously didn't find this amusing, as she shot him an angry look before taking off down the tunnel.

The water grabbed at their feet, making them heavy against the ground. This made progress after the seemingly weightless shadow rather slow. A faint light poured from up ahead.

"They were here..."

The faint voice came from the shadow himself, they could only guess. He was the only other being down here with the exception of themselves. In front of the colorful mural he stood, with one hand resting against it. "Who...who are you" Rykashi's voice cracked from the damp air. Kuja could feel it close to suffocating him as well. "Who are they you speak of"

"I am nobody...one that no longer exists." He turned around and underneith the black hood, they found he was blindfolded. "I am the one you seek, the souless shell."

Kuja watched as she gripped her keyblades tighter and tighter until she almost cried out in pain.

"You're...the one that killed him. You killed my brother"

"Perhaps yes, perhaps not. Perhaps he is truly not dead, only stuck in the void...as am I. You ask for answers to questions I am not bound to answer."

The dark keyblade would have hit him had he not drawn his own blade. A strange sword in the shape of a demon's wing. She cried out in fury, hatred and anguish.

"I will MAKE you answer"

* * *

"Gawrsh! He's wakin' up" Was the first thing that the blonde boy's concious ears grasped. He opened his eyes and rubbed away the weariness before taking a look at the dog-like creature that stood over him.

"How long have I been asleep" He didn't realize he had said the words audibly.

"A good three days now. It's a wonder you're even alive" He heard another voice say, this one coming from a talking duck. Moving his head from side to side, he realized he was in a place he had never seen before. "Where am I"

"Oh, this place" He heard another voice this time, distinctly human. "It's Hallow Bastion." Now he saw the source of the voice. A boy about the age of fifteen with gavity defying brown hair held out his hand to help him up. An invitation that Zidane gladly accepted.

"The name's Sora. This is Donald, and this is Goofy." The boy said, pointing to each of his companions.

"Zidane." The blonde boy answered. "Now tell me, what happened to Gaia"


	5. Whatever happened to Garnet?

Yea, I know..."where on earth have you been?" I've been trying to pass school, keep up in band, and finish up yearbook stuff. Man, I just love high school. (sarcasm)

* * *

**Chapter Five: What about Garnet?**

"Well, from what I heard, it was destroyed by the heartless." Sora answered the blonde man sadly. "Is that where you came from?" Zidane only nodded, partially to answer him and partially to shake this nagging headache from all the facts swimming through his head.

"So Gaia was destroyed...by what?" he asked. He had never heard of these heartless creatures before. They must be powerful if they can destroy a whole world. Zidane had no idea that other worlds even existed. This was all way too much to take in at one time. Sora sighed deeply as if he was going to start a very long story. "The heartless. They're creatures whose hearts were taken from them." "And now they destroy worlds and take other people's hearts too!" Goofy interrupted.

Zidane's face went completely blank, mouth gaping open. "So all the people on Gaia..."

"Had their hearts stolen and devoured." Donald finished for him.

"No! It can't be!" He screamed, jumping up in angry exitement. "That means Garnet..." He fell again, realizing the true weight of the situation. Garnet wasn't alive anymore, but she wasn't dead either. This meant she was simply and empty shell, and he had just let it happen to her. He was so overcome with grief, he hadn't noticed the shadow that crept up beside him.

"Zidane!" Sora shouted, trying to get his attention.

"So you're a heartless, huh?" The blonde haired boy said calmly to the shadow that threatened his own heart. "Let's see how you like this!" Without warning, Zidane grabbed his daggers and tore them through whatever held the heartless to the mortal world and the shadow dissapeared into a puff of black smoke. Another dug its claws into his pant leg, apparently reaching for flesh, only meeting the same demise of its companion. More popped up out of nowhere, endlessly from the ground they were standing on. "There's no end to them!" He finally shouted.

That's where Sora came in. "You didn't think you'd have to fight this on your own, did you?" Sora laughed while readying the Oblivion keyblade for some exercise.

* * *

"Interesting" The cloaked figure said blankly. There was no hint of humanity or soul in his voice. "How do you intend to make me answer? I have no heart, I feel nothing. Your blade will cause me no pain, and I am indifferent to death."

Rykashi had reached the breaking point long ago, and had left all logic behind. She raised the bright keyblade and prepared to hurl it at the cloaked figure. "You want death? I'll give you death!" However, when she went to release it, she was unable to move. "Kuja, what are you doing!" She yelled at the man who was holding her arm back, the keyblade with hit.

"You kill him now, we'll never find out!" He explained to the girl who was mad to the point of dillusion.

"The boy has a point." Came the reply from the mystery man. "If you wish to know that badly, then I shall tell you a few things, but not all. Not yet at least." He put away the demon wing sword.

Rykashi responded by putting her own keyblades away as well. "Very well. I am listening." She crossed her arms, her purple eyes practically glowing with displeasure.

"It was not I that killed your brother. It was a boy. His name was Sora, and he was a friend of your brother, but then he destroyed him."

"Then he will pay" Rykashi clenched her fists again.

Kuja grew increasingly uncomfortable with each passing moment in Rykashi's rage.

* * *

Wow, if that doesn't give away Rykashi's brother, I don't know what will...hehe. 


	6. Rykashi's Gift

So I was asked the question. "When does Kuja get a weapon?". Well, I hadn't thought about that, and the reason for the delay of this chapter is that I had to design one fitting of our Angel of Death. Well, I think I've done it, and you'll all have to tell me what you think.

* * *

**Chapter Six: Rykashi's Gift**

The pair of them exited the waterways of traverse town and walked toward the first district. "So...where too now?" Kuja couldn't believe his calm demeanor, especially after what the two of them had just encountered. However, Rykashi didn't seem to irritated or nearly as enraged as she had been beforehand. Instead she gave him a cheerful glance, which was odd for the violet-eyed girl he had just met the day before. Perhaps it wasn't odd at all, beings as he had only met her a couple of days ago. Either way, it caught him off guard, as he wasn't used to it.

"The moogle workshop" She replied. "I was having something made for you while you were recovering."

"Something made for me?" Kuja stopped for a bit. "What for?"

"I know you're a powerful magic user, but there are some enimies you'll meet that aren't very vulnerable to magic." She turned around when she realized he had stopped. "I can't be the only one of the two of us that knows how to use a weapon."

"You're having a weapon made?" He inquired, warily. He raised an eyebrow as he resumed walking behind her.

"Don't worry, I think you'll find it fitting. The moogles are taking special care with my design." She grinned again before knocking on the workshop door.

"Who is it, Kupo?" A voice came from behind the door. Rykashi smiled and laughed to herself. "It's Rykashi, we spoke a couple of days ago, remember?" The moogle swung open the door, his pom pom swaying with his movement. "Of course I remember, Kupo kupo! Come on inside! It's almost ready!" Kuja watched as she greeted the other moogles inside the shop.

"You coming, Kuja?" He heard, and so he shrugged, walked in and a moogle closed the door behind him.

"So how is it going?" The platinum haired girl knelt beside a moogle near the fire.

"Almost ready, kupo! Be patient, will ya?" She laughed, nodded and then stood up to walk over to him.

"You look worried." She said to him when she stood beside him. "Why?"

"I'm not worried," He raised an eyebrow at her "Should I be?"

Before she had a chance to answer, the moogle by the fire brought over a cloth wrapped bundle to a nearby table. Kuja could still feel the warmth from the fire in the fibers of the cloth as he unwrapped the metallic object inside.

"Excellent work, Master moogle." She shot an approving glance. "Pick it up, Kuja. Tell us what you think!"

He did as he was told, while his eyes grew large with amazement at what he saw. A black leather grip in the center of a long silver pole granted a sturdy handhold that would not easily slip. On each side of the grip, the shaft extended toward both the floor and the ceiling. Light from the fireflace glinted off the smooth flawless edge of both curved blades, one on each end of the shaft. A design of flames was etched on the flat surface of each blade.

"A scythe..." he wispered in approval.

"A double one." Rykashi corrected with a mischievious grin. "I take it you approve?"

A swift twirl of dangerous steel and silver brought the blade to rest at his side. Resting on the floor, it reached clear to his shoulders. "You could say that." He replied with his own trademark grin, with one finger curled slightly at his chin. "Thank you."

Rykashi worked on the payment with the moogle craftsman until, after a heated debate, they came to a good price.

"How much did it cost anyway?" Kuja asked the girl. Her munny pouch considerably smaller.

"Don't worry about it. If you can help me find this Sora, then it will be payment enough."

He shrugged, and didn't really care to argue. The streets were dark now, the only light collected in pools around the street lamps. Even though he could see no one on the deserted streets, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Rykashi stopped in her tracks.

"Can you sense them?"

"Yes...They're here..."

The next thing Kuja saw was the bright keyblade sweep into the black air. He couldn't see the dark one, but he didn't need to see it to know that it was there. His hands formed a tight fist around the black grip of his own duel scythe.

"You ready to test it out, Kuja?" She said calmly over her shoudler.

"Peace is but a shadow of death..." He murmered in response, and he swung the newly forged blade into the writhing darknes...

* * *

Tah dah! So, does the weapon pass inspection? I thought a scythe would be fitting for an Angel of Death...and I just had to make it a double one...mainly because I've never seen such a thing before...haha. 


	7. The Girls on the Island

My goodness…it has simply been forever since I've worked on this thing. However, the fact that I only received one review for the last chapter doesn't inspire much confidence. Nonetheless, as promised to my friend that I began writing this for, I will finish it whether anyone actually reads it or not.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: The Girls on the Island**

"Ah! So you're awake! I was beginning to wonder if you were planning on sleeping forever!" She saw a girl with red-brown hair hovering above her as she wearily forced her eyes to open. Pushing her aching body up from the bed in which she was lying also took a considerable amount of effort. "How long have I been asleep?" She asked, pushing her palms against her eyes.

"Pretty close to three days! Like I said, we didn't think you'd ever come to!" Her watcher answered, while carefully handing her a mug of some hot liquid. "My name's Kairi by the way." The girl said while sitting on her knees beside the bed. "What do I call you?"

"Garnet" She answered as friendly as she could manage through her groggy state. "Where am I? How…What happened?" Garnet had so many questions, questions that she needed answers to. With her questions, Kairi's face dropped into a frown. "I can tell you where you are. Right now you're on Destiny Islands. Specifically, you're in the room of my best friend. He hasn't' come back for a really long time though, so I don't suspect he'll mind if I let you use it." She giggled to herself slightly, although Garnet recognized it as a sad giggle. Whoever this guy was, he was obviously very important to Kairi. _It must be just like waiting for Zidane…I wonder it he made it out alright._ That thought brought a twisted frown to her face.

"What was the last thing you remember?" Kairi's voice broke her concentration on Zidane. Garnet tried to reach back into her memory to bring out bits and pieces of the memory. "There was a storm…" Her voice quivered with fear as she recalled the memory. "But, somehow this storm was different…there was a giant sphere of dark energy suspended in the sky. Shadows began to move around on the ground on their own, only they materialized and attacked us." She choked back a sob at the memory of Zidane at the entrance to her castle, blade in hand, holding off the creatures and yelling at her to go. "That's…all I remember. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I wish I could tell you for sure…" Kairi shook her head. "But I have a pretty good idea of what might have happened." Garnet watched as she sat back and hugged her knees to her chest. "I…just can't believe that it's happening again. All this time I believed Sora had simply forgotten about me, forgotten his promise to come back. I didn't think for a second that this all wasn't over yet…"

"What are you talking about?" Garnet asked, disregarding the girl's feelings for a moment. She felt bad, but she needed answers. She needed to know what happened to Zidane, what had happened to Alexandria.

Kairi looked back up at her, eyes glistening with tears. "They're devouring them again. Once they take the heart of a world…it disappears. It wasn't over after all…"

* * *

"Well, I must say, Rykashi" Kuja turned around and faced her with a grin. "Your gift works splendidly." With another deadly twirl of steel, he brought the double scythe to rest at his side. Meanwhile, Rykashi sent the light keyblade sailing through the gut of the last shadow before twirling it back again. "I'm rather pleased." She returned his grin before swinging both keyblades upon her shoulders and taking a few deep breaths. Kuja glanced with curiosity at the two starkly contrasting oversized keys. "I hear keyblades such as those have names. What do they call yours?" He asked in all seriousness, taking a seat on the step of a nearby staircase.

"Well this one…" she responded by twirling the light blade and holding it up against the dark night air. "This one is called the Eternity." With that, she willed it to disappear into thin air, an ability, Kuja noticed, that keyblade wielders used quite frequently. He supposed it was most convenient. "And the other one?" He asked her. These blades intrigued him. While the Eternity seemed to radiate light from its very existence, the black keyblade seemed to suck all existence into some sort of eternal darkness.

"The Abyss" She answered plainly before twirling it a few times and making it vanish like its counterpart. However, she did so too soon as a flying hearless rushed past them, seemingly out of nowhere.

"That's it?" Rykashi gave Kuja a puzzled look. "It just passed us by? That's a little odd, don't you think?" He returned her puzzled look. "I'm going to follow it…" he said, taking off before even giving her a chance to protest. "Well fine then." Rykashi called after him. "I guess I'll just wait here?" The question was more to herself before taking a seat on the steps.

Meanwhile, Kuja took off full speed after the flying heartless as it twisted and turned its ways through the alleyways of Traverse Town. "Where exactly are you headed?" he asked aloud while chasing it closely, as not to lose it. Alleys twisted past windows, both darkened and illuminated. Each path twisted father and farther into this unfamiliar town. Eventually he reached a clearing, a waterway rushed on the far side of the open street. As he spotted the heartless he had been pursuing, he noticed something rather odd. It had stopped. The flying shadow was merely floating in midair, making no movement whatsoever. A quick flick of his wrist sent the dual scythe's blade right through the center of the shadow in a somewhat hollow victory.

"Ah, so you're the one…"

Kuja jumped, unable to see the source of the unknown voice in the surrounding darkness. "Who's out there? Rykashi?" He called out, hoping that it was indeed Rykashi that had followed him through the twisted maze into this shadow.

"You mean you weren't expecting me?" The voice was cold…not the sarcastic cold of Rykashi's, and Kuja had to work to stifle a gasp when the voice's source stepped into the streetlamp light.

"I was certainly expecting you…"


	8. Why Wouldn't it Work Again?

Oooooh, shame on me! If I remember correctly, I left you with quite the cliff hanger last….not that there will be anybody to read this chapter that read the other ones shrugs. Either way, my apologies for such the long vacation.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Why Wouldn't It Work Again?**

Rykashi sat twiddling her fingers on the steps where Kuja had left her. She was rather nervous for him; after all, it was not long after he had been lying in the hotel room with his side practically giving the carpet a scarlet stain job. "I don't like this," she remarked audibly, close to jumping up with both keyblades in hand and taking off after him.

"Rykashi…" The icy voice froze her blood in mid-motion. She recognized it all too well- to the point where she could practically see the silver hair floating and whipping around in the night breeze. "I have been looking for you."

"Yea? Well you're wasting your time, Sephiroth," Rykashi snapped. "You abandoned me for refusing to kill an innocent boy. An unarmed and unconscious man!" She turned around and shot daggers into the mako-green eyes of the exact man she believed she was talking to. "You play a sick game, Sephiroth. I want no part of it anymore."

Sephiroth chuckled. "My dear, Rykashi, you have gone soft, as I feared." His boots clicked along each stone as he took step after step toward her defiant figure. "But I know what's really happened. You are bound to him now, your bloods have mixed. His destiny is entwined to yours. However did you manage to get into this mess, my dear?" He smirked at her and the look on her face at the vocalization of what she had already known. "But of course, it was that weak heart of yours. In that moment where he surely would have died, you chose the only course that would keep him alive because you could not bear to see him die. Your weakness has limited your destiny, Rykashi. You know as well as I do that now if his breath stops, yours does as well."

The events from that night flashed within Rykashi's violet eyes. Kuja crashing to the floor, his crimson blood flowing uncontrollably, and Rykashi herself saving him by binding their bloods together- all the memories flooded her mind as her hand absent-mindedly relocated itself to her own mark in the same place as his. "Stop it, Sephiroth" she whispered. "It was the only way."

"Ah, but I've only begun, my dear." His voice dripped in pleasure in response to the torment he was causing her. "You believe that it's not a bad match, you and he? You believe that in time, you may even learn to love the one that you've so easily bound yourself to." His hand took her waist uninvited and he cupped her face in the other large hand while tilting it upward towards his. "What about what you really desire, Rykashi? Will you be able to settle happily for what demon you have attached yourself to? I know his true nature; I've heard stories about him that would make you rue the day that you ever used that ancient spell to save the life of the Angel of Death."

"Angel of…." Rykashi questioned, her throat going dry as the pavement she sat upon. Before she could choke out the last word, his warm, moist hands violently crushed her face up against his in a violent kiss.

* * *

She was positively the ugliest creature he had ever laid eyes upon. Well, perhaps Brahne was uglier, but only because she was grotesquely fat, whereas this woman was thin, but Brahne did not surpass her by much. The black, twisted horns rose ominously from her green-skinned face. "Who are you that you had to wait for me?" he spat out at her, borrowing some of Rykashi's sarcastic tone. She eyed him and simply laughed- more like cackled. "I am one who knows the reason of your quest, as well as where to find the end of it. Other than that, you may call me Maleficent." She replied with a smile across a face that looked like it had died and was resurrected by some dark force.

"You know where to find my brother?" he stared at the creature Maleficent with absolute disbelief. "Yes, I do, child. And if you were to learn the dark arts like I have, you could find him easily. Come with me and I will show you, simple as that. " Kuja's head reeled. The thought of finding his brother quickly exited him, however having to trust this witch was not something he needed to do. The path of darkness had gotten him nowhere before. It had only earned him death and what would have been eternal damnation.

"I'll pass" he added with his own biting tone. "The girl and I will find my brother just fine."

"You do not trust me, do you Kuja?" she replied. "I am more trustworthy then the girl you were with. Such fickle creature is the girl between the darkness and light. One moment she is promising you to help find your brother, and the next she abandons you for the man under whose command she almost killed you."

"I don't believe you," he denied bluntly, turning his back and quickly stepping his way back through the twisted path he came towards the girl he had left behind- the girl he had quickly become quite fond of, truth be told. He had begun experimenting with the idea of staying with her even after he had found his brother- she was the closest thing to happiness he had ever known. Someone who was willing to be his companion despite all he had done in his past. "Not that she knows what you've done in the past." He said out loud to himself, rounding the very last corner and coming to a dead halt at what he was seeing.

He had shown up in just enough time to watch some mysterious silver haired man take Rykashi's lips onto his own. Her hands gripped the crossed belts across his chest with quite a bit of tension and his arms enveloped her, all the while he kissed her like hungry animal. A terrible pain gripped Kuja's heart and he nearly toppled to the ground as he clutched it. Was this his own pain? How could so much pain come from one person's heart? "You didn't believe me did you?" He recognized the dragon lady's voice as her long bony fingers creeped unto his quivering shoulder. "Now she's gone and broken your heard, the wench. She did not even have the dedication to hold on for a few minutes while you were gone."

"I'll come with you," Kuja stated blankly. Rykashi would pay for her betrayal after he found his brother. He would become strong enough to defeat her and the green eyed man with his bare hands.

"Excellent" Maleficent extended her arm and with a flick of her bony wrist, and mass of swirling black appeared. She maintained her place even after the blazingly angry boy disappeared into it.

* * *

In the meantime, Sephiroth had disposed of Rykashi by some means. Perhaps he had sent her on some false path to find the boy. Maleficent laughed at the notion that she would never catch the boy as he had already gone.

"So explain to me again, witch, exactly why I did this." Sephiroth asked in his deep tone. "Why the trouble of the deceit?"

"It worked once before between a boy and his best friend. One turned to darkness, just as Kuja has just done. The other should have followed suit, but he did not. We failed that one time. But we shall not fail this time." Her eyes gleamed. "This time, they are bound, and by more than just the mark. The Wielder of Fate will fall to darkness with the Angel of Death."


End file.
